Basket-making method and means



y 15, 1930- w. E. HATCH BASKET MAKING METHOD AND "BANS Filed Feb.

"60 the panels.

atented July 15,. 1930 mas PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM E. HATCH, OF ST.,JOSEPE, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO ST. JOSEPH IRON WORKE, OF ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN BASKET-MAKING METHOD AND MEANS Application filed February My invention relates to baskets and the like which have an annular tapered wall composed of a plurality of upright panels and has reference more particularly to the method and apparatus whereby the anels are assembled in a preliminary shell orm, after which they are adjusted relatively to give the shell the desired taper and then secured to hoops to maintain the tapered form of the shell.

The principal objects of m invention are to provide an improved met 0d of making baskets and similar receptacles; to construct baskets conveniently and rapidly in an economical manner; to provide improved apparatus for constructing baskets or similar receptacles; to provide convenient means for holding the basket and parts thereof on the machines during the assembling operation; and in general to produce baskets and like receptacles by improved methods and apparatus.

()n the drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a basket of a type to which this invention relates;

Fig. 2, a erspective view of the shell from which the asket is made;

Fig. 3, a fragmentary View of a machine such as may be used in making the shel and showing portions of the basket shell thereon in section;

Fig. 4, a fragmentary view partly in section showing a machine which may be used for expanding the shell and finishing the basket; and

Fig. 5, a bottom view of the shell showing the manner in which the latter is held in place on the form. a

The type of basket to which this application relates is somewhat as'shown in Fig. 1

and comprises a plurality of panels 1 which may be arranged edge to edge, spaced apart or with their lateral edges overlapped. These panels are arranged in the form of a ta ered shell and are secured at their upper en s between inner andouter hoops 2 and 3 respectively and at their lower ends between inner and-outer hoops 4 and 5 respectively and are preferably reinforced midway between the ends by an external hoop 6 which iss'ecured to The bottom 7 oi the basket may 5, 192%. Serial No. 86,198.

be of any desired construction but is preferably composed of a plurality of slats 8 which are crossed, somewhat as shown in Fig. 5,and secured to the upper edge of thehoop 4, and this constructionaffords openings or spaces between the ends of the staves which in some cases are useful for ventilating the contents of the basket and also in the present basket making machine are utilized to permit engagement with the bottom for holding the so latter in position on the basket making ma chine.

In making this basket I have found it desirable to assemble the panels 1 in a preliminary shell form, somewhat as shown in Fig. 2, by stapling the panels to a hoop or other part of the finished basket, after which the shell is shaped to have the required taper of the finished basket and held in the final tapered. form by other hoops which are attached to these panels. In practice I have found a convenient method of making the basket is to st cure the ends of the panels 1 to the hoop 4 of the basket bottom and the outer hoop 5 is preferably attached at the sametime. This results in the panels 1 assuming the form -.f a substantially cylindrical shell with the upper ends of the panels capable of being fanned out or spread apart more or less to produce the required taper. The panels in the pre- 30 ferred form have their lateral edges overlapped as indicated in Fig. 2. and staples 9 are preferably passed through the hoops 4 and 5 and the overlapped edges of the panels as indicated in Fig. 2. The shell such as shown in Fig. 2 may be constructed in any convenient manner, for example, with an apparatus similar to that shown in part in Fig. 3, wherein a disk 10 of suitable sizeto have the bottom 7 applied thereto with the hoop 4 of said. bottom which has been previously attached to said bottom, encircling the disk 10. is mounted to rotate in a bearing 11 of a suitable standard or support 12. A stapling mechanism of the usual type, a fragmentary part of which is shown at 13, is arranged and operated in the usual manner to cooperate with the disk 10 for applying the staples 9, and the outer hoop 5 is ed in any suitable manner between the staloo rotation of the disk 1050 that the operation pling mechanism 13 and the disk as the shell is assembled.

In using a machine of this character the bottom 7 with the hoop 4 already attached thereto is applied on the disk 10 as shown in Fig. 3, so that the hoop 4 projects over the edge of the disk 10, and said bottom is held in place thereon in any convenient manner, as for example, by clips 14 secured to the disk 10 and rovided with offset portions 15 which mav )e inserted through the apertures of the has et bottom and by a relative turning movement of the basket bottom and disk 10 engaged against the outer faces of certain panels 8 so as to hold the basket bottom on the disk 10.- The offset portions 15 of the clips 14 preferably extend in the direction of of the device insures" continued engagement of the cli s with the panels of the basket form. A ter the combined basket bottom 7 and hoop 4 is applied to the disk 10, the latter is rotated in a step by step manner and succeeding panels 1 are applied and succeeding portions of the hoop 5 laid over the panels and the staples 9 driven throughthe hoops 4 and 5 and the interposed portions of the panels so as to form the shell of Fig. 2.

After the shell of Fig. 2 is completed it is released from the disk 10 bya relative forward rotative movement of the basket shell with respect to the disk 10 and after removal from said disk is then'expanded into the desired ta ered form and has the other hoops of the basket attached thereto.

For expanding and completing the basket, an apparatus of the type shown in Fig. 4 may be em loyed having a plurality of disks 16, 17 an 18 of successively larger size and constituting in effect a tapered form for shaping the basket shell of Fig. 2. Adjacent the disks 17 and 18 are stapling devices 19 and 20 respectively which cooperate with the disks 17 and 18 to staple the hoops 6 and 2 and 3 onto the basket shell. The hoop 2 which extends around the inner side of the upper edge of the basket is preferably placed on the disk 18 before the shell is positioned on the form or disks 16, 17 and 18, the latter disk being formed with a beveled portion 21 to facilitate the placing of the hoop 2 in position on the disk 18 and being further provided with a marginal flange or rib 22 or any other suitable means to serve as a stop for locating the hoo 2 in the proper position on the disk 18.

The disks 16, 17 and 18 are fixed on a shaft 23 which projects laterally from and is journalled in a bearing 24 on a standard or suprt 25, and the basket form comprising the isks 16, 17 and 18 is designed to be rotated in a step b step manner to bring successive portions 0 the basket and hoops under the stapling devices 19 and 20 for applying the sta les thereto.

he disk 16 is of a form and size so that periphery of said hoop when the basket shell is placed in the stapling position, it is desirable to expand the forward end of the basket to the maximum size before the latter moves over onto the hoop 2. To this end an expanding member 26 is mounted between the disks 17 and 18 adjacent the disk 17 and is of sufficiently large diameter to expand the open end of the shell as shown in Fig. 4 just before the final movement of the basket shell so that the open end of the shell is enlarged sufficiently to pass freely over the hoop 2. This expanding member 26 is for this purpose formed with an annular beveled face 27 and is carried by a plurality of stems or rods 28 which slide through apertures in the disks 16 and 17 and normally project beyond the outer face of the disk 16 so as to be engaged by slats 8 of the bottom 7 when the shell is applied to the stapling machine. Springs 30 encircling the rods 28 and com pressed between the disk 17 and collars 31 which are fixed on the rods 28 normally hold the spreader 26 in the retracted position as shown in full lines in Fig. 4 and permit the spreader 26 to be projected by engagement of the basket bottom 7 with the outer ends of the .rods 28, forwardly to the dotted line position of Fig. 4 in the final movement of the basket shell as it is applied on the form 16-1718. In this forward movement of the expander 26 the open end of the shell is maintained in the fully expanded form as it reaches and engages over the hoop 2, and the free ends of the panels 1 are thereby readily engaged over the periphery or outer face of the hoop 2.

For holding the shell on the form 16-17-18 during the stapling operation, clips 32 similar to the clips 14 hereinbefore described are'placed on the disk 16 to engage through apertures in the bottom 7 of the basket shell and by a relative rotary movement of the shell and form are interlocked with the slats 8 and thereby hold the shell in place on the form. After the shell is located on the form the, latter is rotated as before indicated in a step by step manner and the stapling devices 19 and 20 operated, the

strips forming the hoops 6- and 3 being at the same time fed between the staplin devices 19 and 20 and the respective disks 17 and 18 so that upon a complete revolution of the form and the shell thereon the hoops 6 and 2 and 3 aresecured to the shell and the latter thereby maintained in the desired tapered form of the basket.

lVhile I have shown and described my invention in a preferred form, I am aware that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles of my invention the scope of which is to be determined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The improvement in the art of making baskets which comprises assembling and holding a plurality of panels around a separate basket bottom so as to form the side wall of the basket, providing a preformed hoop of a diameter greater than that of the bottom, then uniformly deflecting the ends of all the panels remote from the basket bottom outwardly to'enlarge the open end of the side wall and admit said hoop therein, then securing said hoop within the enlarged end of the side wall and winding and securing a plurality of external bands around said side wall.

2. The improvement in the art of making a basket which comprises arranging a plurality of panels around a basket bottom to form the side wall of the basket, providing a preformed hoop of a diameter greater than that of the bottom, then uniformly deflecting the ends of the panels remote from said bottom radially across the exposed edge of said hoop and introducing the latter into the open end of the basket side wall, and then securing said ends of the panels to the outer face of the hoop and winding and securing external bands around said side wall. I

3. The improvementin the art of making a basket which comprises assembling a series of panels around a basket bottom with the edges of adjoining panels overlapped to form the side wall of the basket, then relatively adjusting the panels to graduate the overlap lengthwise of the panels and taper the side wall, and then applying fasteners through the overlapping portions of adjoining panels. 1

4. The improvement in the art of making a basket which comprises forming the basket side wall with adjustable upper end by assembling a series of panels around a basket bottom and holding the panels solely at a distancefrom their upper ends in the assembled form, then introducing a tapered form into the open upper end of the side wall. and thereby wedging the panels outwardly to the final tapered form of the basket side wall, and thenstapling the panels between inner and outer hoops to maintain said final tapered form of the basket side wall.

5. The improvement in the art of making a basket which comprises assembling and holding a circular series of panels around aseparate bottom to form the basket side wall,

then deflecting the ends of the panels remote from the bottom radially against the holding tension to form a tapered shell, and then securing the deflected ends of the panels between inner and outer bands.

6. The improvement in the art of making a basket which comprises assembling a circular series of panels around a separate bottom, providing a preformed hoop of a diameter greater than that of the bottom, then slipping said series of panels endwise onto a tapered form and stepping the ends of the panels remote from the bottom over the exposed edge of said hoop on the larger end of the form, then winding and securing bands around the circular series of panels and to the aforesaid hoop and then withdrawing the resultant structure from the form.

7 The improvement in the art of making a basket which comprises assembling a circular series of panels around a separate bottom, providing a preformed hoop of a diameter greater than that of the bottom, then slipping the assembled structure onto a tapered form and over said hoop on said form, then interlocking the bottom of the assembled structure with the form, then securing a plurality of bands around and to the circular series of panels and simultaneously securing the aforesaid hoop to the panels, and then releasing and removing the resultant structure from the form.

8. The improvement in the art of making a basket which comprises clamping a plurality of panels around the edge of a basket bottom so that the panels are held in substantially upright position, then expanding the panel structure at the end remote from the bottom and applying a preformed hoop of a diameter greater than that of the bottom within the upper ends of said panels, and

then winding and securing a plurality of outer bands around and to the series of panels and simultaneously securing the aforesaid hoop to the upper ends of the panels.

9. The improvement in the art-of making a basket which comprises assembling a circular series of panels so as to form a basket side wall and holding said panelsin the as-.

sembled form solely by confining the lower portions of the panels between inner and outer members so that the side wall is resiliently expansible and contractible at the upper end, then expanding the upper end of said side wall against the holding tension ,of'

the said inner and outer panel confining members and introducingtherein a preformed hoop of a diameter greater than that of the other end of the basket side wall therein, and then securing the upper ends of the panels to saidhoop.

10. The improvement in the art of making a basket which comprises assembling a plurality of panels-around a form and holding said assembled panels solely by confining the lower portions thereof between inner and outer retaining members so as to form a has ket side wall with a resiliently expansible and contractible upper end, then applying the panels and confining members on a rotatable tapered form and simultaneously fitting the upper ends of the panels over a preformed hoop of a diameter greater than that of the lower eild of the basket side wall on said form, then rotating the form and stapling a pluralit of outer bands around the basket side wa l and at the same time stapling the deflecting the ends of the panels radially from the form and over a preformed hoop of a diameter greater than that of the basket bottom on the larger end of the form, and then securing the ends of the panels between said hoop and an outer band.

12. In a machine for making baskets, the combination of a hoo holder, a support whereon a basket shell is applied to embrace the hoop, means operable by applying the ba sket shell to the support to expand the shell and guide the latter over the hoop and mechanism for securing the hoop to the basket shell.

13. In a machine for making baskets, the combination of a rotatable support for a hasket shell,'meansfor. holding a hoop within the end of the shell, an axially movable member on the rotary support for guiding the end of the basket shell onto the hoop and fastener mechanism for securing the hoop to the shell.

14. In a basket making machine the combination of a ta cred form adapted to have a basket shell of ap lied endwise thereon, and means movable axially of the form for guiding the ends of the panels over a hoop at the larger unconneoted end of the form.

15. In a basket making machine the combination of a tapered form adapted to have a basket shell of assembled panels with ends thereof unconnected at one end of the shell applied thereon, a hoop seat at the larger end of the form, and means movable with the hasket shell as the latter is applied on the form and serving to direct the unconnected ends of the panels over a hoop on theaforesaid seat.

16. In a machine of the class described the combination of a rotatable support for a basket bottom, fastener mechanism operable to and from the periphery of said support and means permanently mounted on the support and operating by relative rotary movement of the support and basket bottom to lockthe latter in place on the su port.

WILL AM E. HATCH.

assembled panels with ends thereof unconnected at one end of the shell- 

